Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) in a video posted to her Instagram account took credit for blocking a GOP effort to pass a bill to supplement the protections for Supreme Court (SCOTUS) justices and their families.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) asked on the House floor for unanimous consent to take the bill from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) desk, but the measure was blocked, so members could not vote on the legislation.
The move came a day after an armed man, Nicholas John Roske, allegedly attempted to murder Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh.
Now, Ocasio-Cortez has publicly revealed that she blocked McCarthy’s unanimous consent request, saying that it was to force a roll call vote after most Republicans voted against Democrats’ partisan gun control bills.
Ocasio-Cortez explained in a video posted to her Instagram Story on June 9.
Ocasio-Cortez noted that it was a “fly-out day”—the term used to describe members leaving DC to return to their districts—and that, as is common on these days, leaders on both parties hoped to use lawmakers’ anxiousness to get home “to force unpopular things to happen” through unanimous consent.
“I wake up [on June 9] and start to hear murmurs that there’s going to be an attempt to pass the Supreme Court supplemental protection bill the day after gun safety legislation for schools and kids and people gets stalled,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
“Oh, so we can pass protections for us and here easily, but we can’t pass protections for everyday people?” Ocasio-Cortez said. “I think not. So, I’m gonna need a roll call vote on that.”
“Not only are you gonna try to pass it, they’re trying to pass it by unanimous consent, so it can slip on by with no one’s name put on it,” she continued. “That’s not what unanimous consent is for. Unanimous consent is not to pass things quickly to hide and prevent a politically difficult moment.
“If we’re gonna do it, let’s do it. Put our name on it. Vamos. Put it on the floor.”
By Joseph Lord
